We had no agility this last weekend which was probably a good thing as it is sooooo hot at the moment!! I went to Hickstead Derby yesterday to watch the showjumping which was amazing but I did get very burnt. On Saturday Matthew and I took Brooke round St Albans market again but this was the first time she had walked round. We lost count of how many people said she looked like a fox cub! She was a good girl and was quite brave about people giving her fuss. Brooke is now only an inch smaller than Brax but is longer. She has an amazing 'halo' of sticking up hair that really shows up in sunlight! Brooke loves the other two but she thinks Brodie is a great big brother! He tends to be the one to play with her and race around :)
Huge Congratulations to Ruth and little Jamie who got a 1st and a 3rd in Steeplechase at the weekend and a 2nd in jumping!! A brilliant result and well deserved as they have both worked really hard :) Also big Well Done to Maria and Chester who got 2 x 2nds and a 6th at their first show as a Grade 3 last weekend!!
I have been a bit lax posting about agility what with our little Brooke constantly entertaining us! She is now 13 weeks old and is so much fun to play with - it amazes me how much she want to learn and she takes everything in like a lil sponge! She is soooo food motivated so we are trying to reward lots of behaviours with toys. Progress today, she had a really good tug with me right next to the school buses dropping the kids off :) She was hilarious yesterday as we gave Brax an empty Burns bag to play with as usual and Brooke thought it was some alien life form! We did get it on video but you'll have to turn the sound down as we laugh as the way through!!
Brooke went in the bag voluntarily after Brax was finished and didn't want to come out - I think cloth tunnels will not be an issue!
Agility wise we went to Axstane and didn't last long the first day due to the weather. The runs we did are on YouTube We had a mixed weekend! Brodie only did one run on Saturday and it was the KC Olympia C1-7. We had 5 faults on the dog walk as I was an idiot and told him tunnel while he was still on the down plank. Poor dog hasn't got a hope! Looking at his time it was nice to see that he would have come 6th. Brax did a lovely run with Saturn in the Mini/Mixi pairs and they came 11th. She also ran well in the jumping, we were laughing at the video as she is the same colour orange as the equipment!!
On the Sunday we had champ and Brax got E'd in the jumping first thing as Matthew got slightly ahead of her and she ducked behind him and took the wrong jump - quirky lil girly! Brodie ran OK in the jumping apart from spotting Matthew on a turn and getting a refusal! We both did champ agility and I got E'd on obstacle 18, totally my fault, I flicked him the wrong side of a jump. Again we had a fault on the dog walk which is unlike Brodie so I'm putting it down to an increase in confidence and therefore speed. Bit of homework as no shows for few weekends. I have to mention our lovely trainer Lisa and her sheltie Tyler who did their first Champ class and got through to the final and also came 3rd in the jumping round :) Also congratulations to Nancy and Bernadette with their OBay shelties who took the small and medium tickets with some cracking runs - I bet Zen was very proud of her kids!
Brax had a lovely run in C4-7 jumping and ended up a respectable 6th out of 90+. Brodie got a 6th in the Celebration Connection so here is a pic with their rosettes. The firsts and trophies in the pic are from JDA where we won the pairs, I just hadn't got round to a photo until now!
Here are a couple of pics of the dogs out in the wind!
Lil Brooke pup has had a very exciting week! I had been asked to do a dog trick training demo at a local hospice and although only Brax had been before, I thought I would risk taking all three shelties. Brooke came out for the first 5 mins of my demo and demonstrated how even young dogs can learn so easily if you make it exciting and rewarding for them. I admit that I had no idea how she would react to being in a room full of strangers watching her but wow did she impress me!!! She happily demonstrated sit, down, roll, paw and putting her feet on her little box (her new fav trick!) and she was incredibly focused on me the whole time. What a proud Sheltie Mum I am! :D She then got to sit on everyones lap for a hug before falling asleep in her crate while the older two did their bit. Brooke made a lot of very poorly people happy - animals are amazing therapy. Yesterday she came with me to a friends house for a takeaway/DVD night. She met the three resident terriers, guinea pigs and cats and behaved herself really well apart from falling asleep on the sofa and try to stretch out and push us off!!
Today we went to the common for a play and this afternoon we went to a Discovery Day on a local common which also had a fun dog show. We thought it would be a good opportunity to socialise Brooke with other dogs without Brodie and Brax being there.
We have never been to Hinckley show before and it was a really nice size (five rings) and you could see all the best handlers working their dogs. I love watching great partnerships working a tricky course, its so interesting seeing how people approach different courses.
It was Brodie and my secong attempt at Champ and he did me proud getting clear rounds in both the jumping and agility rounds so we made it to the FINAL!!! Thats one ambition ticked off the list :D Brax also went clear in both rounds so both shelties were in the final!
The jumping was a fairly flowing course and it ran really well - here is Brax strutting her stuff on the champ jumping course
In the agility round I walked the course and liked it apart from the turns off all three contacts. I wasn't sure that I could turn Brodie after his running contacts round the back of the jumps after the dog walk and Aframe. It was messy but we went clear and I'm pleased with how he worked
In the final, Brax went like a rocket and then missed the second weave pole :( It was a shame as there was only about three or four clears in the small. We are delighted that Amy Lawson won her third ticket with Fudge making her Ag Ch Millieon To One. Sheltie power!! Brodie ran a bit slow in the final but went clear bless him. It was the first time for ages that he has been in a ring with such a big crowd watching and I know that nerves affect both of us. I handled like an idiot as my legs felt like jelly! There is a moment before he goes into the weaves that he almost stares at the judge but he got his brain in gear after that! Unlike smalls, there was loads of fast clears in medium and it was won by Tasha and amazing Dizzy.
One thing we did notice was that both our dogs struggled with the see saw a bit. Not sure whether it was lack of rubber contacts or a different weight.
Our little princess has reached the grand age of 11 weeks already! She has had a very busy week as we have been at JDA and Hinckley agility shows. (More of that in another post) She has been very laid back about meeting new people and playing ball and tug in different situations. We have started walking her out and about now as she has had both of her jabs. I found an old harness that Brax had as a youngster as she occasionally goes silly and races around on her lead in circles and I don't want her to hurt her neck. This is her relaxing at JDA - she is sooo cute!
Brooke has also been off her lead lots over the fields, both with and without the older two dogs as we don't want her to be reliant on them but to listen to us instead. She loves bouncing along next to Matthew, a Daddy's girly already! After using the little red harness for a week, we decided to try Brax's old green harness on her. Its much more padded and it just about fits on the smallest settings so it has growing space. Lian gave us a pretty pink and green lead so now Brooke is very colour coordinated!!
Today we went along the High Street to Sainsburys and waited outside while Matthew went shopping so Brooke could meet people. She was a bit tentative to start with as I guess she is used to meeting people in our arms but we met some lovely people who really got down to her level and spent time saying hello. She loved watching the trolleys!!
Then we went to the yard in the rain to feed Max and Brooke was fascinated by the rain! I guess she hasn't seen much of it!! :)
We have finally got round to putting our videos on the computer! We also are now on U Tube - Burdettshelties :)
Matthew and Brax in round 1 of the Individual Pentathalon. Shame about the weave entry, they ended up 9th in this round.
Pentathalon Round 2, Brax loved this course and they were 5th. You can tell how much she enjoys the wider weave pole spacings. You'll have to excuse the shaking - I was VERY nervous watching them!!
Pentathalon Round 3, Brax's first course in the main arena. She loved the atmosphere and the cheering! She came 3rd in this round so they got on the podium!
Pentathalon Round 4, Brax started a bit slow but still managed to come 4th.
Pentathalon Round 5 - Speedstakes. She went like a rocket to start with!! Shame about the contact and then she missed a jump resulting in elimination. She was very excited by such a large crowd!!
